Nah Jacobs had nothing to do with this. Iginla gave his list, Feaster worked with everyone and decided he liked the Boston offer best, told boston we have a deal since he thought he did, called Iggy, Iggy says man I just don't know, I really want to go to pittsburgh, feaster says think about it... iggy does and says I dont want boston I want Pit, feaster calls Boston to apologize, boston coach gets mad and throws his earpiece into some dudes beer, calls Shero says we got a deal. Hilarity ensues.

Iginla Had a NMC... yes he had the final say... but Shero didn't give up squat for him... and the Flames could have decided to not trade him... but they did for two very unimpressive prospects. If Feaster sat down with Jerome and said look.... we've been partners for 16 great years... Please go to Boston It'd really help us out. Do you really think he'd say no???

Besides that, Iginla is and has always been really tight with the ownership group there in Calgary. Why would he screw over these guys by insisting that he go to Pittsburgh???

marek wrote:Iginla Had a NMC... yes he had the final say... but Shero didn't give up squat for him... and the Flames could have decided to not trade him... but they did for two very unimpressive prospects. If Feaster sat down with Jerome and said look.... we've been partners for 16 great years... Please go to Boston It'd really help us out. Do you really think he'd say no???

Besides that, Iginla is and has always been really tight with the ownership group there in Calgary. Why would he screw over these guys by insisting that he go to Pittsburgh???

So you don't believe the theory yourself? Or are you saying Flames management was in on it?

Gaucho wrote:I'm not sure I buy it. This would mean Iggy named Boston as one of his desired destinations with the intention to **** them over and show them up. I like to think he has too much class for such a bush league move.

But did he ever really make a list? More garbage from Feaster to drive up the price? Not every GM can get Dumoulin, Sutter and a 1st for a player who says he will only go to that team

Given the negotiations between Feaster and Chiarelli I'd say definitely yes. So if this... theory were true, Iggy really screwed his GM and the Flames franchise as a whole.

Or, he helped his GM by agreeing to fake interest in 2 other teams so the Flames would have SOME negotiating pull with the Pens. If there were not other teams for the Pens to bid against, the deal Calgary gets is even worse.

I strongly believe this is what happened. Iginla new Pittsburgh was his choice weeks ago. And I dont think, at all, that it would mean Iginla has no class. Its all part of negotiating. Free agents fake interest in teams all the time to increase the price. He was trying to help his franchise on the way out the door, to the best of his ability, while also doing what was in his best interest.

The Flames wanted to give Iginla what he wanted. They had taken and taken from him for 16 years and not once did he ever complain. He rotted away as the team around him stagnated and never got better. He never got a premier center. Just him and Kipprusoff forging ahead against the inevitable failure that was this season. And after all that, the Flames finally decided he needed a chance for the cup, a chance he could never have as long as he stayed in Calgary. So, they traded him. And with his years of dedication and service they made sure to send him where he truly wanted to be. They didn't want to take from him anymore, this was the last act of a partnership that for too long had been one sided.

Shero made the offer that he was comfortable making, otherwise there was no deal to be made. The flames traded him rather than lose him to nothing.

Flip that coin. How about Iginla said to Feaster, we've been partners for 16 years, let me go to Pittsburgh so I can have the best chance of winning the cup. Iginla would not look at that as screwing them over. For all you know, Feaster was content with what we offered him.

marek wrote:Iginla Had a NMC... yes he had the final say... but Shero didn't give up squat for him... and the Flames could have decided to not trade him... but they did for two very unimpressive prospects. If Feaster sat down with Jerome and said look.... we've been partners for 16 great years... Please go to Boston It'd really help us out. Do you really think he'd say no???

Besides that, Iginla is and has always been really tight with the ownership group there in Calgary. Why would he screw over these guys by insisting that he go to Pittsburgh???

So you don't believe the theory yourself? Or are you saying Flames management was in on it?

Bizarre.

I'm saying that it's a competitive business. One that has alliances and loyalties. Guys you get along with and guys you don't.Jacobs is not well liked by his peers. And there were reports that got quashed by Bettman (as he had to say there was unity amongst owners) that Burkle and Jacobs went at it. When Burkle got involved there was progress in the lockout talks, then in a matter of seconds Jacobs offended Fehr so badly that we went back to square one and Burkle walked away.

Burkle is one of the most respected and highly thought of negotiators and owners in business. Not just sports. He's friendly and normally pleasant in nature (i've met him) but if you screw him over he will win in the long run.

That's what I'm saying. There is something else to this other than Iginla saying he wanted to play for the pens instead of boston.

FWIW, this morning on my drive to work, as soon as XM NHL Radio got the news, the one guy said "was Iginla vocal during the lockout?", the other announcer wasn't paying attention and then said "what did you say?" and the other guy said "nevermind just a theory I've been thinking about"...paraphrasing but that was the back and forth.

Burkle was considered a hero and Sid was very vocal of his support for his ownership team. Boston wasn't. This isn't far-fetched if all other things were equal to Jerome.

the packages weren't so far apart that Feaster would have to beg Iginla to go to the Penguins rather than the Bruins. They got a guaranteed 1st round pick and 2 solid prospects for 10 less games from Iginla. Win-win.

Could see this being a factor. It isn't Feaster that is refusing to deal with Boston, it's Morrow and Iginla with their NTCs. All things being equal, why wouldn't you chose to go to a team with players you're familiar with and an ownership group/coach that have an excellent reputation for how they treat their players? That opposed to a hardline owner who made the lockout longer and more frustrating than it had to be?

I was going to post the same thing. Sure, he wants to play for the Pens and think they have the best chance. But Boston also has a great shot. He had his choice. I would not be surprised that this was a big "F. U." to Jacobs who was the biggest lockout hawk of all the owners. Whereas Lemiuex/Burkle were probably the ownership which tried to get it settled.

Feaster had to get SOMETHING in return for Iginla. With Iggy only wanting to go to the Pens, the ball was in Shero's court. Feaster had to take whatever Shero threw at him or Iginla would walk away at the end of the season and the Flames would get nothing in return.

It's part of the reason why I do not like no-trade-clauses in contracts.

KG wrote:I'm sure the Bruins owner isn't liked. That said. If the Bruins had the Penguins roster, Iginla would be a Bruin now...

Pretty much. Morrow and Iginla didn't go to PGH because they're fond of Lemieux and Burkle. They went to PGH because they believed that was where they'd have the best chance to be one of the 23 guys holding the Cup over their head in a couple months.

I think it's more likely that Morrow and Iginla wanted to go the Pens because of Malkin and Crosby. Also, I think the fact that Penguins just beat Boston twice within the last week or so without Malkin played a big factor. Far more than any revenge factor at Jacobs.

It's pretty simple Iggy choose the pens. Feaster might have wanted the Boston deal but when they presented the trade offers to Iggy there was three teams to pick from (Chicago was the third team but unconfirmed). He picked the penguins.

Feaster didn't have to say he had a trade from the pens if he didn't at least like it. He easily could have said we got an offer from Boston we want to take, the pens offer was not one we would accept as such we don't consider it an offer